The death toll in the floods in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district reached 31 on Sunday even as incessant rains lashed parts of north India, leading to many rivers flowing above the danger mark.
According to state government authorities, six persons swept away in the floods, triggered by a
cloudburst on Friday night, are missing and five injured persons have been admitted to hospitals.

The floods in Uttarkashi — about 180 km north of Dehradun — have swept away the Gangori bridge, leaving nearly 700 pilgrims on the Chardham Yatra stranded at Gangotri. Around 200 pilgrims have been stranded at Syanchatti too. The Tiloth bridge on the Kedarnath route too has been swept away.

The government has directed the public works department and district officials to make alternative pedestrian routes for the stranded pilgrims.

Chief minister Vijay Bahuguna said relief and rescue work were being carried out on a war footing. “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured the Centre would provide all possible help.”

The CM and Harish Rawat, Union MoS for agriculture, did an aerial survey of the affected area in the afternoon.

The state government would give R3 lakh to each of the families of those killed in the floods. The stranded pilgrims would get a one-time help of R2,700 per family.

The Assi Ganga power project, where 19 labourers and three fire brigade employees were swept away, has suffered extensive damage. The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam rest house at Bhatwari and the Maneri Bhali phase I and phase II hydro power projects too have been damaged.

Anand Sharma, director of state meteorological department, said, “The fury of rains will now come down for a few days, but moderate rainfall will occur at isolated places in the state in the next 24 hours.”

Meanwhile, Sharda and Ghagra rivers in Uttar Pradesh crossed the danger mark. In Jammu and Kashmir, 24 people trapped in flash floods were rescued in Samba, Kathua and Jammu districts, where dozens of houses are still inundated.